Staple strip



A. n. TIBBALS.

STAPLE STRIP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.1-9, 1920.

1,407,709. Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

AZZMD. D'Mals.

BY z W UNITED, STATES ALBERT D. TIBIBAIS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

STAPLE STRIP.

Specification-of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

Application filed March 19, 1920. Serial No. 367,248.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT D. TIBBALS, a citizen of the nited States, residing at city of St. Lo 1s, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Staple Strips, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in staples that are formed of relatively thin metal and which are utilized for securing together two or more sheets of paper, fabric, or like material, such staples being united in strip form in order that they may be readily fed through a suitable machine or implement which, when properly operated, severs a staple from the end of the strip, drives the legs of said staple through the sheets of material that are to be secured together, and clinches the ends of the legs of the staple against the underside of the connected sheets.

The principal objects of my invention are, to provide a relatively simple and eflicient staple strip which, by virtue of'its construction, can be easily and cheaply produced; to construct the strips so that the individual staples can be readily severed; to construct the staple strip with a continuous longitudinally disposed groove or channel or a row of apertures which will cooperate with parts of the staple setting device'to cause the strip to readily feed or travel through said device without bending or kinking; to provide a staple strip having a centrally arranged longitudinally disposed reinforcing orstrengthening rib, the same being formed by compressing a portion of the metal of which the staple strip is formed, thereby providing relatively rigid staple strips which will not tend to bend easily while being handled prior to their insertion in the staplesetting machine; and, further, to form the ends of the legs of the staples so that they will readily enter and pass through the sheets of material that are to be fastened to ether.

ith the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrange ment of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of a staple strlp constructed in accordance with my invention. Y

Figure 2 is aside elevational view of the strip.

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross section taken approximately on the line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken approximately on the line 44 of Fiurel.

igure 5 is a plan view of a modified form of the strip.

Figure 6 is a plan view of a portion of the strip and showing by dotted lines the location of the longitudinally disposed feeding groove or channel.

Figure 7 is an enlarged cross section taken approximately on the line 7--7 of Figure 6.

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail section taken approximately on the line 88 of Figure 6, and showing the compressing of the metal at the feeding channel for the purpose of forming a longitudinally disposed stiflening or reinforcing rib.

Figure 9 is a sectional view similar to Figure 8 and showing a modified form of the feeding groove and stiffening rib.

Figure 10 is a sectional view similar to Figures 8 and 9 and showing a further. modified form of the combined feeding groove and stiffening rib.

Figure 11 is a plan view of a portion of the staple strip and showing the same provided with-a row of apertures with which the feeding mechanism of the staple setting tool cooperates. v

Figure '12 is an enlarged detail section taken approximately on the line 12-12 of Figure 4 and showing the compressed pointed end of oneof the staple legs.

Figures 13, 14 and 15 are detail views of modified forms of staple legs.

Referring to the drawings which illustrated a practical embodiment of my invention, S designates a strip or series of connected staples, each of which comprises *9; horizontally disposed central portion from the ends of which depend legs 2. The strip thus constructed is formed in any suitable manner, preferably by means of dies, and the material from which the staples are formed is preferably thin sheet metal that is coated with tin or the like. The lower portions of the edges of the legs 2 of the staples are beveled as designated by} so that the lower ends of said legs are pointed in Order that they will readily enter and pass through the sheets of material that are to be secured to each other.

In order to materially stiffen and harden the terminal portions of the pointed ends of the legs, the lower portions thereof are compressed by the action of suitable compressing tools or dies, the degree of applied pressure being suflicient to bevel the lower outer faces of the staple legs as designated by t and such action closing the pores in the metal, and consequently increasing the density of said metal and producing hardened points which will readily penetrate the sheets of material to which the staples are applied. (See Fig. 12.) Further, by compressing the metal in the pointed ends of the staples, said pointed ends tend to more firmly en age and gri the sheets of material to which the stap es are applied when the lower portions of the staple legs are clinched or bent upwardly against the underside of the material, for where the pointed ends of the legs are hardened they will tend to reenter the sheets of material as they are clinched upon the anvil of the staple setting implement.

As illustrated in the drawings, I prefer to extend the beveled edges 23 about onehalf the length of the staple leg and the beveled faces t should extend about onehalf of the length of the beveled edges t.

The individual staples are connected to each other by relatively narrow necks 3 disposed along a medial line between the legs 2 and formed in the underside ofeach neck is a transversely disposed notch 4 which ex tends approximately halfway through the thickness of the material of which the staples are formed, said notches 4 being for the purpose of decreasing the amount of metal that the cutting member of the staple setting tool must pass through when the staples are severed and driven.

In order to provide a lon itudinal reinforcement for the staple strip and at the same time provide a channel or groove which will cooperate with the feeding mechanism of the staple setting device, and facilitate the movement or feed of the strip through said setting device, a longitudinally disposed groove or channel 5 is formed in the underface of the strip, said groove or channel extending across the central portions of the horizontal members 1 of the staple and the necks 3'. These grooves or channels may be of any desired shape, either arcuate as illustrated in Figure 8, of substantial width as illustrated in Figure 9, or relatively narrow as illustrated in Figure 10. This groove or channel is formed by compressing the material in the staple strip effective in preventing the strip from being readily bent while being handled or while being fed through the staple setting machine.

In Figure 8, 9, and 10, I have illustrated the grain of the metal as being compressed directly above the grooves or channels 5 to form this longitudinally disposed centrally arranged reinforcing or strengthing rib.

With certain forms of staple feeding means it is necessary to form in the strip of "staples a row of centrally arranged apertures, and where this is done, the apertures such as 6 are preferably formed through the centers of the transverse members 1 of the staples. (See Fig. 11.)

I have illustrated these apertures as being round and while such construction is preferable, it will be readily understoodthat said apertures can be of any desired shape, for instance, square, triangular, oval, octagonal, or irregular in outline.

In Figures 7 to 10 inclusive, I have illustrated the channel 5 as being formed in the underside of the strip, and while such construction is preferable, this channel may be formed in the top of said strip. Instead of compressing the pointed ends of the legs of the staple so as to form the beveled faces t on the outer sides of said legs, the pressure can be applied so as to form the beveled faces on the inner sides of the legs as illustrated in Figure 13, or said pressure may be applied so as to form beveled faces on both inner and outer sides of the leg, as illustrated in Fi are 14.

11 Figure 15 I have illustrated the lower end of the leg as being provided with a chisel edge.

In Figure 5 I have shown a modified form of the staple strip wherein the central portions -1 of the staples have substantially the same width throughout their length and the central portions of said staples being united by necks having semi-circular curved edges 7.

A staple strip of my improved construction can be easily and cheaply produced, does not bend readily while being handled] or while being fed through the staple setting tool, cooperates readily with the feeding mechanisms of practically all forms of staple setting tools, is formed so as to permit the ready removal of the separate staples, and as the legs ofthe staples are tapered and provided with hardened ends, they will readily enter the sheets of material to which they are applied and the hardened pointed ends will tend to reenter the lower sheets of material as the staple legs are clinched upon the anvil of the staple setting device.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved staple strip can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A staple strip comprising a series of connected staples, and there being a continuous longitudinally dis osed groove formed in the main body portion of said strip, said groove being formed by compressing the metal of the strip.

2. A staple strip comprising a series of connected staples, the central portions of the main body portions of which staples are compressed to form a longitudinally disposed reinforcing member.

3. A staple strip comprising a series of connected staples, the central portions of the main body portions of which staples are compressed to form a longitudinally disposed reinforcing member and a channel, the latter being adapted to cooperate with the staple feeding means.

4. A staple strip comprising a series of connected staples, said strip being hardened along a longitudinally disposed line.

5. A staple strip comprising a series of connected staples, and there being a centrally arranged longitudinally disposed channel compressed in the underside of said strip,- which channel is adapted to cooperate with the feeding mechanism of the staple setting device.

6. A staple strip comprising a series of staples, a neck connecting the staples, there being a transversely disposed groove compressed in said neck.

7. A staple strip comprising a series of staples, a neck connecting the adjacent staples, there being a transversely disposed V-shaped groove compressed in said neck.

8. A staple strip comprising a series of connected staples, the metal from which said strip is formed being compressed along a longitudinally disposed line to form a relatively hard reinforcing member, and the body of the strip being provided with a row of apertures.

9. A series of connected staples forming a strip, each staple having a perforation in its body portion and in line with the connecting web between the staples.

10. A staple strip comprising a series of connected staples, the central portions of the main body portions of which staples are compressed to form a longitudinally disposed reinforcing member, and a row of apertures in said compressed portion.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature this 15th day of March, 1920.

ALBERT D. TIBBALS. 

